Reviews the materials, techniques, and some of the schools involved in the phonics-based Alpha One reading program. (MB)

Describes research results showing that letter-name knowledge does not aid the beginning reader in pronouncing words composed of the same letters. Suggests that letter-sound knowledge does have a beneficial effect. Bibliography. (RW)

Notes that to effectively prevent children from becoming disabled readers the teacher must be able to identify the problem, recognize its significance, and modify the reading program in a way appropriate to the child's needs. Bibliography. (RW)

Reports a 3-year longitudinal study (grades 1 through 3) comparing (1) a basal reader program, (2) a phonics program, (3) a combination program of basal readers supplemented with phonics, and (4) a language arts approach using i/t/a. (MD)

Aspects of knowledge and motivation that are critical to becoming a strategic reader (one who uses strategies to aid comprehension) are examined. Learning to read strategically is related to children's cognitive development as well as to the social contexts of instruction. Suggestions are offered to promote children's use of strategic reading.…

Notes that brain research completed in recent years has shed light on the process of learning to read, then reviews that research and makes suggestions about what it means for instruction. (FL)

Concludes that instruction in aural cloze improved kindergarten children's ability to supply words deleted from a story read to them. (FL)

Three groups of kindergarten children received four training trials and a word-recognition test with 15 words in a beginning-reading task. The prompting-and-fading and the no-prompting groups performed similarly on word recognition after training and scored significantly higher than the prompting-only group. (Author)

Develomental patterns in the reading and aural skills of 45 preschool, kindergarten, and first grade children, were assessed. Children with increasing reading abilities were progressively more successful in their ability to segment words in both aural and visual contexts. (FG)

Groups of good and poor readers were tested on free recall of 10-word lists. The poor readers demonstrated as strong a recency effect as the good readers, but showed inferiority in immediate memory span. The results demonstrate a degree of dissociation between the recency effect and memory span. (Author/KC)